Los Angeles freak scene

The Los Angeles freak scene (also known as the L.A. freak scene or simply freak scene) was a movement and subculture that emerged in Southern California during the early-to mid 1960s. The scene was led by Vito Paulekas, who in 1961, along with his wife Szou, established a clothing boutique on the corner of Laurel Avenue and Beverly Boulevard in Hollywood, close to Laurel Canyon. Paulekas assembled an expanding group of associates who were referred to as "freaks" or "freakers". His main partner would be Carl Franzoni (aka "Captain Fuck"), described as a "self-styled leader" of the freak scene. These individuals formed part of his dance troupe, which practiced a style of free-form dancing which noted them in Sunset Strip nightclubs as "an acid-drenched extended family of brain-damaged cohabitants". The scene would also be associated with the "freak-out" movement. Paulekas has been described as the "King of the L.A. freak scene". His freakers would invade rock concerts for prominent local acts such as the Byrds, Love and the Mothers of Invention, which helped garner both the musicians and Vito and his freaks wider notoriety. In July 1965, the Byrds invited Vito and his freakers on a nationwide tour. Writer Barry Miles labeled Vito and his wife Szou as "the first hippies in Hollywood" and "perhaps the first hippies anywhere". In June 1966, Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention released their debut album Freak Out! which was a concept album based around the L.A. freak scene. Vito and his freakers would make guest appearances on the album's closing track. The group would be credited alongside musician Kim Fowley and Suzy Creamcheese as "The Mother's Auxiliary".

Artists such as Alice Cooper, the GTOs, Captain Beefheart, Kim Fowley, Frank Zappa, the West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band and Wild Man Fischer have been noted by music journalists as associated with the L.A. freak scene.

Etymology and characteristics

The "Los Angeles freak scene" has been referred to as "the freak scene" by several publications and was part of the various international counterculture and underground culture movements which came to prominence during the 1960s. In July 1968, American musician Frank Zappa, who had previously been a part of the L.A. freak scene,

In 2017, Pitchfork retrospectively labeled the Los Angeles freak scene "a cousin of the Bay Area hippies". While other acts such as the GTOs and The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band were also noted as associated. They and an expanding troupe of associates called themselves "freaks" or "freakers", and became well known in the area by about 1963 for their eccentric free-form dancing in Sunset Strip nightclubs, being described as "an acid-drenched extended family of brain-damaged cohabitants".

Vito has been regarded as an early hippie, Paulekas and his troupe would later accompany the Byrds on a nationwide tour in July 1965. He would be retroactively described as "a man in his fifties who presided over a harem of predominantly young female 'freakers'". According to Los Angeles Times, Paulekas was the "king of the L.A. 'freak scene'". right|thumb|[[Kim Fowley in the October 12, 1966 issue of British music magazine Record Mirror, labeled "Prince of Freak Out"]]On the October 12, 1966 issue of British music magazine Record Mirror, writer Norman Jopling interviewed musician and producer Kim Fowley on the emergence of the freak scene:

Musicians

In 2003, Barry Miles, who had been one of the founders of the underground newspaper International Times, wrote a retrospective on the early hippie and freak scene in Hollywood, California, stating:

Frank Zappa said of Vito's freaks: The album's opening track "Hungry Freaks, Daddy" was written by Zappa for L.A. freak Carl Franzoni, which Louder magazine described as a "self-styled leader of the L.A. freak scene".

According to The Quietus, Freak Out! was "pivotal not only in Zappa's story but the LA freak scene it documents".

Louder magazine referred to Zappa and Captain Beefheart as "two giants of the late-60s LA freak scene," along with claiming that musician Alice Cooper during the late 1960s "acclimatised their lifestyle to that of the burgeoning Los Angeles freak scene".

Los Angeles freak scene

Etymology and characteristics

Musicians

See also

References